The only delivery I made in Nissan's commercial cargo van was myself. And while my shoulder bag was ridiculously heavy, it wasn't anywhere near the vehicle's 1,500-pound payload. So for my purposes the NV200 was overkill.

But the Japanese automaker isn't targeting the white-collar crowd with its newest vehicle. It's pursuing the half a million businesses created in the U.S. each year, the fastest growing segment of which supports residential building construction.

Until now, all those self-employed plumbers, electricians and landscapers have subcontracted their driving to gas-guzzling pickup trucks, oversized vans or the ubiquitous Ford Transit Connect. With its NV200, Nissan intends to undercut the competition with a well-priced workhorse.

Like nature, manufacturers abhor a vacuum, especially one that sucks up sales as efficiently as the unrivaled and slightly more expensive Ford.

Starting at $19,990, the highly anticipated NV200 is Nissan's first compact cargo van. It arrived at U.S. dealers late last month after four years on the market in more than 40 countries.

A half foot longer than the Transit Connect but smaller than Nissan's NV2500 and NV3500 tall-roof cargo vans, the NV200 is powered with a carlike 2-liter 4-cylinder engine that yields an EPA-estimated 24 miles per gallon combined. Just a single mpg better than the Ford, the fuel economy rating was partially accomplished with a continuously variable transmission that, when I stomped the accelerator, was responsive, even though it revs high and sounds desperately in need of an up shift before reaching cruising speed.

When it does, drivers are rewarded with something unusual for a cavern on wheels: Quiet. I've driven far noisier cars at this price point.

One of the NV200's greatest achievements, however, is maneuverability. Its turning radius is tight enough, and its steering so light, that drivers might actually enjoy making downtown deliveries in rush hour traffic.

The sliding doors on both sides are likewise so easy to pull I almost felt as if I had super strength and could fling them off their rails.

The doors on the back end open 60/40, with the smaller door on the traffic-prone, left-handed side. The back doors open in two stages. Pull once, and they lock into position parallel to the side panels. Pull another lever, and the doors fully extend into a position that's perpendicular to ease loading and unloading.

All of its access points are low enough to the ground that they don't require unnecessary acrobatics.

Recognizing that most entrepreneurs who buy cargo vans are coming from passenger vehicles, Nissan replicates the amenities drivers now expect while acknowledging the NV200's underlying purpose. The more luxurious of its two trims, the SV, is equipped with steering wheel controls and a color touch screen, power door locks and cruise control, among other features. My test vehicle was also outfitted with a technology package that, for an extra $950, includes navigation and a rear-view camera — a great feature for a van that's long enough to haul a couch.

Its tall driver seat was more Armada than Altima. Its oversized mirrors were akin to a Mack truck, but they effectively showed me the cars that zoomed in and out of my blind spots with convex mini mirrors built into their outer upper corners.

The driver's seat wasn't just comfortable. It was reinforced with heavy-gauge vinyl on the edges to prevent wear and tear from repeated ins and outs — a nice feature for drivers wearing long pants, though in the summer, exposed thighs could stick.

The passenger seat folds forward into a quasi-desk. A hard plastic tray is built into its backside to accommodate a McDonald's lunch or a laptop printer that can crank out invoices on the spot and keep the business, and the vehicle that propels it, in the black.

The rest of the NV200 is a blank slate. Its 122.7 cubic feet of cargo space is intentionally spartan, with half a dozen D rings to strap things in place, a padded floor mat to prevent cargo from scraping raw metal and 17 points to attach optional fixtures that range from cabinets and shelves to drawers and, eventually, seats.

New York recently selected the NV200 as its "taxi of tomorrow" and will add 300 of them to its fleet later this year. An all-electric version is currently being tested in London's taxi service. (The e-NV200 will go into production this year for the European market and uses a similar powertrain to Nissan's all-electric Leaf hatchback with an estimated range of about 85 miles per charge.)

Who knew cargo vans could be so progressive?

The Nissan NV200 is a long overdue addition to an underserved market that is sure to get heated when Ford updates its Transit Connect later this year.

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